This invention pertains generally to the field of recycling used beverage containers. In particular, the present invention is a system for rapidly scanning large numbers of containers and maintaining tallys of the numbers, brands, and types of containers scanned. The present invention provides an apparatus to rapidly and automatically pass large numbers of containers through the field of view of a conventional UPC scanner, and rotate each container so that the entire sidewall of each container is scanned.
In recent years several states have enacted mandatory deposit legislation for beverage containers. In these states, grocery stores and other retail outlets are primarily responsible for redeeming used beverage containers returned by consumers. Arrangements must then be made for the appropriate bottlers or distributors to reimburse each retail outlet for deposits on beverage containers that have been paid to consumers. In some situations, the retailer sorts the containers by brand or type and deals directly with the appropriate bottlers or distributors for reimbursement of deposits paid to consumers. However, in many situations, retailers simply accumulate unsorted containers in bags or boxes. The containers are picked up on a regular basis from retailers by a clearing house. The clearing house sorts and/or counts the containers by brand or type, so that the appropriate bottlers or distributors can be invoiced for deposits returned by each retailer to consumers. Traditional manual sorting and counting techniques used by clearing houses for this purpose are relatively slow and costly.
UPC scanners have gained wide acceptance in grocery stores where they are used at checkout counters to read the UPC, or bar code, from items purchased by consumers. Industry standards have been adopted, and a unique UPC is assigned to each product. Like other food packages, each brand and type of beverage container has been assigned a unique UPC. Although this coding system was originally for use in the context of expediting the checkout process in grocery stores, this technology has also been found to be applicable in recycling used beverages containers.
One principle problem associated with using a UPC scanner for this purpose has been attaining a satisfactorily high processing rate. The scanner used in the preferred embodiment has a field of view consisting of a line a few inches in length. Thus, the problem is to provide a means for rapidly feeding containers through the field of view of the scanner, one at a time, and at a controlled rate. The situation is further complicated by the fact that each container must be rotated while in the field of view of the scanner to allow the scanner to view the entire sidewall of the container to locate the UPC. This combined problem of rapidly transporting a series of containers into the view of the scanner while rotating each container, is difficult to solve without introducing needless complexity. With existing systems of this type, each container is individually staged in front of the scanner by a indexing mechanism, and then rotated by a separate mechanism. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,389 (column 2, lines 48 et seq.) mentions that a turntable can be used to rotate the container before the scanner. Alternatively, a roller positioned under the container can be employed to spin the container (column 4, lines 14 et seq.). However, arrangements of this type require a transport or indexing mechanism to load each container to and from the turntable or roller. This needless complexity increases the cost of the device, and simultaneously reduces the processing rate and reliability of the system.
In contrast, the present invention involves continuous processing of containers without a mechanism to individually index or stage each container in front of the scanners. Continuous processing presents a new problem in maintaining adequate spacing between containers. Adequate spacing is necessary to ensure that each container is separately scanned. Otherwise, the situation arises where the field of view of the scanner may include sections of two adjacent containers, resulting in the UPC from one container being erroneously read for a second container. This not only results in an inaccurate accounting, but also may result in the wrong container being rejected in the event the scanners are unable to read the UPC from a particular container. The use of a declining pair of rollers in the present invention to simultaneously rotate and accelerate a stream of containers overcomes these difficulties, and allows containers to be stacked end to end at the upper end of the rollers. This constitutes a substantial improvement over the prior art in terms of speed, cost, and dependability.